bonanza_writers_resourcefandomcom-20200213-history
Virginia City in the 1860's
The Roar and the Silence, by Ronald M. James My heart gave a skip of exaltation as first I saw City lying sprawled there in its canyons and along the scarred mountainside-the greatest mining camp ever in America! ... It was not long before I imbibed the folklore and history of the camp from hospitable old-timers. -Wells Drury, upon arriving at the Comstock Lode in 1874. INTRODUCTION Virginia City clings to the steep side of Mount Davidson. It is an improbable town site. Before the 1859 strike that spawned the city, placer miners worked the sand and gravel of Gold Canyon far below, living in tents and shacks. They settled in enclaves where nature provided water, for drinking and washing sand away from gold, and cottonwoods, for shade and a break from the wind. Those early prospectors could not have envisioned the future Virginia City, looming far above. J. Ross Browne, one of the first authors to describe the community, observed that the climate was one of "hurricanes and snow; its water, a dilution of arsenic, plumbago, and copperas; its wood, none at all except sage-brush." He went on to point out that no one has "tide to property ... that there is no property worth having."' One hundred years later, American television exploited the history of Virginia City and the Comstock Lode almost as if that heritage itself were a body of ore. The Bonanza series conjured up an image of a mining boomtown situated on conveniently level ground. In the television Virginia City, unlike the real place, there were no buildings balanced on 40-percent grades, with extra stories built on the downslope side and foundations scraped into the mountain on the other side. Wagons rolled effortlessly into TVs Virginia City, once again denying the improbable location and nature of the West's premier mining town. Coincidentally, tourists who come to visit the site of one of the world's richest ore strikes also struggle with the reality of Virginia City's peculiar disposition. Directed by signs along the main thoroughfare to parking downhill, flatlanders from throughout the world ascend the steep grades to view the silent remnants of the nineteenth-century mining boomtown. With chests heaving from exertion, they come to realize that if the silver deposit had not been discovered, no one would have planned a town on this mountain. The city stands nearly a mile and a half above sea level, on ground so steep that in the nineteenth century runaway wagons became a daily and unremarkable-occurrence. Still, as any miner knows, it is not possible to establish mines where people would most like to live. The discovery of ore dictates the location of the mine, and nature sometimes deposits that ore inconveniently. Such was the case with Virginia City. Historians should never lose sight of this fundamental fact concerning the town that was often called the Queen of the Comstock Mining District: its location, perched high on a steep, desolate mountain that was inaccessible to the rest of the world, shaped its development and its nature. First of all, then, Virginia City is a product of its place. While the land furnished the bedrock upon which miners and entrepreneurs built the mining district, it also served as fertile soil for the growth of myth, a process that began long before television. The real Comstock may provide an irrefutable basis for good history, but since the earliest days legend has given resident, visitor, and those far away a prism that transmuted the appearance of the mining district, challenging and continually altering perceptions. While one might prefer to disregard the Comstock myth as an annoying distraction, it has become part of the place's reality, warranting its own study and appreciation during the course of any effort to come to terms with the district. The myth of the Comstock adds a second element essential to an understanding of the place. A third critical aspect revolves around Virginia City's international context. Separated from the rest of the world by mountains and desert, hundreds of miles from major metropolitan centers, the town was nevertheless part of a global community. Its citizens arrived from everywhere. As one of its alumni, Samuel Clemens, pointed out, all the peoples of the earth had representative adventurers in the Silverland. "I And when the bonanza days were over, the Comstock had given back such notables to the global community as Clemens in the guise of Mark Twain, as well, is many new aristocrats, among them George Hearst, Adolph Sutro, and John Mackay. In addition to the mining district's cosmopolitan population, other aspects of the new community tied it to someplace else. Virginia City imported its technology, its architecture, and nearly every other element of its existence. Its mining industry produced tons of gold and silver that flooded the international marketplace. At its height, the Comstock startled visitors with the noise of its machines, the clanking metal of its stamp mills, the shrill whistles, and the constant rhythm of its engines. The cacophony of this industrial colossus echoed in the hills day and night. The entire world eventually heard the roar of the Comstock. Although the mining district was on the periphery, it was intimately connected to the core of the international system.' Significantly, John Mackay's silver helped lay the first transatlantic cable, thereby making the world a smaller place, translating into a broader context what the Comstock had done as a microcosm. Still, Virginia City was sufficiently removed from the rest of the world that its rocky slopes provided a habitat for an extraordinary type of society, fashioned from a synthesis of Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa. The depth of its ore required a new technology. Distances to be traversed for transportation of goods, timber, and water also mandated innovation. Virginia City was stamped out of imported materials, but at the same time it created its own persona, which eventually influenced the entire mining world. A fourth characteristic of Virginia City is that it was always in flux. It is not possible to point to any one year or span of years as giving definitive expression to what the mining town was like. Virginia City alternated between boom and decline, again and again. A single portrait cannot capture the nineteenth-century community; at the very least two snapshots are needed, to illustrate both sides of its economic cycle. Even this is insufficient, however, since each period of prosperity and depression assumed its own distinct form. With these four observations in mind, it is possible to proceed. Virginia City was and is a remarkable place, and its riches continue to stir the imagination. Ronald James1998 TIMELINE 1825 Stockton and Darlington Railway in England 1828 Baltimore & Ohio RR , horse drawn cars, Charles Carrol of Carrollton, richest American of his time 1830 First run of Peter Coopers "Tom Thumb," a steam powered locomotive. Settlers move to Oregon valley for agricultural reasons 1847 Discovery of steel by William Kelly, a Kentucky iron master 1848 Mexican cession of California and New Mexico, Nevada and Utah 1849 Gold discovered at Sutter's Mill in California 1850 Steam boat transportatio;, 750 steam boats in the Ohio and Mississippi river systems, canals and great lakes competed until Civil War for commerce traffic to the free West, a struggle that paralleled the rivalry of the free states and the slave states. By 1850's control swung to the canals and the lakes, Weland canal, Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, ships could go from Chicago to London. California becomes a state. By the far the biggest user of iron was the rail road, although machines and buildings were being made of cast and wrought iron. Railroads also had the most extensive machine shops in America, turning out parts iron and steel tools and other machinery. 1855 Panama Isthmus railroad opened, monopolized traffic to west coast until 1869 when the first transcontinental railroad was opened. 1856 Sleeping car patented by G.M.Pullman 1857 Utah war(statehood in 1896 after Mormon church repudiated polygamy) August, New York Bank crash 1858 Morman station established in what is now Genoa. 1859 First all steel car Oregon becomes a state Gold discovered on the Comstock 1860 By 1860 there were 30,000 miles of railroad in America, passenger trains sped along at an incredible speed of 20 mph, freight 11 mph, track mostly in north east and south. 1861 Nov 29, original charter, Virginia, Carson & Truckee Railroad Co. 1862 Charter, Virginia and Truckee Railroad Co. 1863 Development of Bessemer process of steel manufacture. Nationwide general use of steel rails 1864 Formation of Bank of California, headed by Darius Ogden Mills, help from genius William C.Ralston, soon VC branch headed by William Sharon. Mine foreclosures were passed on to Union Mill & Mining Company, same shareholders. Nevada becomes a state 1865 Sep 1, Virginia and Truckee River Rail Road Co, W. Sharon stepped in. 1867 May 8, Sharon incorporated the V & T RR CO to build from Hold Hill North through VC along Lousetown creek to Truckee River, ten miles east of future site of Reno, (Lakes Crossing.) Settlers donated $500,000 from Ormsby and Storey Counties and petitioned to move route through Carson City. 1868 Final charter V&T, Mar 5. 1869 Feb 18, ground was broken. Sep 28, Engine arrives Carcon City. Sep 30, completion of Crown Point trestle Nov 12, First regular train on CP Trestle Dec 21, trains from CC to Gold Hill 1869 Transcontinental railway, Union Pacific, westward from Nebraska, Central Pacific, building eastward from California, met at Promontory Point, Utah, May 10 1870's Nation wide battle of railway financiers, Vanderbilt, Gould, Fisk, Hill, Harriman. Mines run out, roughly a the 1000-1100 foot level. 1870 Jan 29, V&T line open in entirety. 1871 February, Hill Beachey, arranged right of way for VC to Reno, by Legislature, route surveyed partly paralleled the line of present Geiger Grade,(This was before V&T went from CC to Reno) July, Sharon forces take action,contract for bridge across Truckee River in Reno. Nov 11, excursion to steamboat springs,(from Reno) 1872 Aug 24, first train full length of the line from Virginia City to the Truckee River. 1873 February, Discovery of the "Big Bonanza" in the Con Virginia Mine Five years of rushing business on the V&T, 30-45 trains per day, 35 carloads of lumber from Huffackers, (Owned by Bonanza Kings Mackay et al.)20-40 carloads of other materials and merchandise. Outgoing tonnage was ore, 80-100 carloads a day. four of seven carded trains between Carson City and Virginia City were passenger trains. 1874 Rails of V&T replaced with new and heavier steel rails 1875 V&T RR paid dividend over $360,000 1876-77 Most productive for V&T, then slump 1879 Only 52,841 tones of ore down to Carson city mills, one fifth of 1876, surplus locomotives were sold. 1880's Standardized rail width to 4 ft 81/2 in. 1880 Begin construction of Carson and Colorado RR at Mound House to the south. 1886 Branch to Silver City abandoned 1890's V&T Dividends eliminated. Virginia City holds a special place in the history of the West and America. The first truly industrial city in the West began in the late 1850's. Gold was found at the head of Six-Mile Canyon in 1859 by two miners named Pat McLaughlin and Peter O'Reilly. A fellow miner, Henry Comstock, stumbled upon their find and claimed it was on his property. The gullible McLaughlin and O'Reilly believed him and assured Comstock a place in history when the giant lode was named. Following the gold up the canyon an outcropping of gold in quartz was found. Another miner, James Finney, nicknamed "Old Virginny" from his birthplace, is reported to have named the town during a drunken celebration. He dropped a bottle of whiskey on the ground and christened the newly-founded tent-and-dugout town on the slopes of Mt. Davidson "Old Virginny Town," in honor of himself. The biggest problem in this grubstake paradise was the sticky blue-gray mud that clung to picks and shovels. When the mud was assayed, it proved to be silver ore worth over $2,000 a ton - in 1859 dollars! Gold mixed with high quality silver ore was recovered in quantities large enough to catch the eye of President Abe Lincoln. He needed the gold and silver to keep the Union solvent during the Civil War. On October 31, 1864 Lincoln made Nevada a state although it did not contain enough people to constitutionally authorize statehood. The resulting boom turned Virginny Town into Virginia City, the most important settlement between Denver and San Francisco; and the grubby prospectors into instant millionaires who built mansions, imported furniture and fashions from Europe and the Orient, and financed the Civil War. With the gold and silver came the building of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, which ran from Reno to Carson City to Virginia City and later to Minden. The investments made in mining on the Comstock in the 1860's, 1870's and 1880's fueled the building of San Francisco. Wm. Ralston and Crocker, founders of the Bank of California made their money in Virginia City. Names like Leland Stanford, George Hearst, John Mackay, Wm. Flood and many others made their fortunes in Comstock mining. At the peak of its glory, Virginia City was a boisterous town with something going on 24 hours a day both above and below ground for its nearly 30,000 residents. There were visiting celebrities, Shakespeare plays, opium dens, newspapers, competing fire companies, fraternal organizations, at least five police precincts, a thriving red-light district, and the first Miner's Union in the U.S. The International Hotel was six stories high and boasted the West's first elevator, called a "rising room. Today, many mansions such as the Castle, the Mackay and the Savage stand as monuments to the opulence of life on the Comstock. The Virginia & Truckee Railroad runs again from Virginia City to Gold Hill. The largest federally designated Historical District in America is maintained in its original condition. "C" Street, the main business street, is lined with 1860's and 1870's buildings housing specialty shops of all kinds. Don Bush 1992 "Gold!" "Silver" "The Grosh brothers struck it rich in Washoe! "There's a strike in the Utah Territory!" And so it was in 1859 a sample of silver ore taken to Grass Valley California assayed as high grade. Thousands rushed east over the Sierras to the Comstock Lode and what was to become Virginia City. The ponderous granite ledge of gold and silver - named after local miner Henry "Pancake" Comstock - was one of the largest strikes ever on the American Continent. Battles over claims lead to tough mine laws still in effect today. Virginia City grew into the most opulent and exciting city in the West. The Comstock Lode, the richest place on earth, became known for its well tailored millionaires, it's opera singers, and most important, the richest and the crookedest railroad of all time, the Virginia And Truckee Railroad. Miners and businessmen alike rushed to the shadows of Sun Mountain for their chance at the hidden riches. By 1863 the population of Virginia City was more than 20,000. The booming mining town attracted a sudden explosion of greedy, easy-money opportunists. Of these, no one was quicker to catch the monetary fox than William Sharon. Because of his financial dead aim in California, Sharon was picked in 1864 to open the Virginia City branch of the Bank of California. Sharon had a sharp eye for financial opportunities and an insatiable lust for power. He pursued the acquisition of every mine and mill on the Comstock Lode. His plan was simple - extend cheap credit at half the going interest rate, then foreclose at the first opportunity. Within two years Sharon, Ralston and the Bank of California had virtually every mine and mill on the Comstock under their control. But they wanted more. The Central Pacific portion of the transcontinental Railroad was nearing the summit of the Sierra Nevadas and would soon reach The Truckee Meadows at Lake's Crossing, the future site of Reno. A rail connection from Virginia City to the Central Pacific would drastically cut the cost of hauling freight to the busy mining town. If the Bank of California could be the first to build such a Railroad they could take control of the freight business just as they had the mining and milling industries. But Sharon and the Bank were not the first with the idea of a Railroad to Virginia City. The first charter for a Railroad was granted in November of 1861 under the name Virginia, Carson and Truckee Railroad Company. This road was to go through Eagle Valley north of Carson, through Washoe Valley and then up the Truckee River to the California border, with a spur line running down to the Capitol at Carson City. But unable to get financing, the owners had yet to lay a foot of track. Another charter was granted in December of 1862, to the Virginia And Truckee Railroad Company, but no track had been laid under this charter either. In May of 1867 Sharon grabbed the loose ball and incorporated the Virginia and Truckee Railroad Company with a route running from Virginia City, north along Lousetown road to the present site of Lockwood, 10 miles east of Reno, where it would connect with the Central Pacific. Factions in Storey County and Ormsby County offered Sharon $500,000 to run the Railroad through Carson City and up Washoe Valley to connect to the Central Pacific at Lake's Crossing. Not one to laugh at half a million dollars with no strings attached, Sharon re-charted the Railroad accordingly in March of 1868. White haired Henry M. Yerington was appointed superintendent of the new V & T. Sharon's timing was perfect as in May of that same year the Central Pacific laid the transcontinental track into Lakes Crossing, 25 miles north of Carson City. Grading of the V & T right-of-way began in February of 1869. By September, the route was ready for rail. Henry Yerington drove a silver spike into the first rail on September 28. December saw the first train from Carson City reach Gold Hill. In January of 1870, the first official passenger train pulled into Virginia City. The V & T route began in Virginia City, curved its way a half mile south to Gold Hill, across the famous Crown Point trestle, through more curves to American Flat, down to Moundhouse and through Brunswick Canyon into Carson City. The route made enough turns in the trip to go around in a circle seventeen times. The V & T easily earned its name as "The Crookedest Railroad In The World." The turns were tight, many of them were more than the standard 14 degrees. The sharpest turn was an unheard of 19 degrees going into Gold Hill. The 16 mile trip took 21 miles of track. Iron rails were imported from England. Six tunnels were built on the main line, all timbered against loose rock and zinc-lined to prevent fires. The Railroad purchased three engines from Booth Union Iron works in San Francisco and two slightly larger engines from Baldwin of Philadelphia. All five engines were 2-6-0 type Moguls. The Booth locomotives, numbers 1, 2, and 3 were named Lyon, Ormsby, and Storey. Engines 4 and 5, the Baldwin machines, were named after the terminal cities of Virginia and Carson. But in 1870, as was so typical of the furious ups and downs of the mining industry, the gold and silver of the Comstock Lode appeared to be running out. Production was down. Prices of mine shares plummeted. The future of the newly completed Railroad did not look bright. With low prices for mine shares, mines were easy to buy. Sharon and the Bank of California lost control of the Crown Point mine to John P. Jones and Alvinza Hayward. Soon after, John Mackay and James Fair, two mine superintendents, secretly bought the Hale and Norcross Mine. Sharon, though frustrated at his loss of two major mines, continued the building of the V & T. In 1873, the entire run was open, from Lakes Crossing to Virginia City. Then Jone's and Hayward's Crown Point mine hit pay dirt and Sharon was vindicated. Mine production increased steadily as did the profits of the Railroad. The Silver short line stayed busy and profitable hauling wood to the mines, ore to the mills, and consumer goods to the still thriving city. In May of 1873, a huge body of high grade ore was discovered in Mackay and Fair's Consolidated Virginia Mine. The discovery was the largest ever on the Comstock and became known as "The Big Bonanza." John Mackay and the other owners of the Consolidated Virginia pocketed a million dollars a month in profit. The V & T was getting rich, too, making four hundred thousand dollars a month hauling freight and passengers. In today's dollars, the V & T profit was nearly ten million dollars a month. Soon the busy V & T was operating 116 ore cars, two hundred platform cars, and 361 freight cars hauling as much as 40,000 tons of freight each month. By 1874 the V & T had 18 locomotives in service and was running 40 trains a day. Feeder lines were build to Yerington's wood flume at the south of Kings Canyon near Carson City and to the lumber yards at Clear Creek Canyon. Thousands of cords of wood passed through the V & T every month. A typical Comstock mine could burn upward of 25 cords a day for the operation of their hoisting works and the huge Cornish water pumps needed to keep the mines free of water. The V&T was flourishing but the face of the Comstock was changing. The owners of the Consolidated Virginia Mine and its "Big Bonanza," John Mackay, James Fair, James Flood and William O'Brien, became known as the Bonanza Kings. With their success in picking producing mines, they soon took control of the Comstock, wrenching financial power from Sharon and his associates at the Bank of California. They opened the Nevada Bank and soon locked Sharon and the Bank of California out of the financing business altogether. The Bank of California, overburdened with bad loans on barren mines, capsized. William Ralston, manager of the bank, was fired and found dead in San Francisco Bay soon after, possibly a victim of suicide. William Sharon, still the gritty survivor, went on to become the Senator from Nevada in the Congress of the United States. Like Sharon, the V & T continued on in spite of the odds. Reconstruction of Virginia City after the devastating fire of 1875 kept the Railroad profitable even though the mines were beginning to run out. By 1879 it looked like the "Mighty Bonanza" was dying. The V & T hauled only 52,000 tons of ore that year, one fifth the amount of 1876. It was the beginning of hard times for the famous Silver Short Line. Determined to keep the Railroad business alive, V & T Superintendent Yerington and the other owners of the V & T began the construction in 1880 of the narrow gauge Carson and Colorado Railroad to run from the V & T intersection at Moundhouse down into Bodie and Aurora, bustling mining towns to the south. But Bodie and Aurora soon went from boom to bust and the branch line didn't help the V & T at all. Production in the mines of the Comstock was down, too. In 1886 the branch line to Silver City was abandoned. In 1890 the V & T stopped paying dividends. In 1901 many miles of spur track were removed and sold as scrap to help with expenses and to avoid the new tax on track. Ore production took a slight rise in the early 1900s and boosted the V & T for a short-lived res-pit (respite) from its otherwise continual decline. Jim Butler discovered gold in Tonapah. The Tonapah Railroad was built to connect to the C & C. Soon the freight business on the narrow gauge Carson and Colorado kept the V & T busy, even though the freight had to be transferred by hand from the narrow gauge C & C to the standard gauge V & T. In 1904, the C & C was sold to Southern Pacific. They offered to buy the V & T, too,but the price was too high. To cut the expense of manual transfer of freight, Southern Pacific standardized the C&C rails from Moundhouse to Tonapah. Soon after they ran a line north to Hazen and connected the C & C , now called the Nevada California Railroad, directly to the main line of the Central Pacific. The V & T was bypassed completely and lost all the freight from Tonapah and the mining communities to the south. Faced with competition from the trucking industry and the depletion of the rich Comstock ore, the V & T fought frantically to stay in business. In a last ditch effort to remain afloat, tracks were ran down to Minden from Carson City and in August of 1906 the V & T opened its lines to the agricultural and cattle freight from Douglas County, south of Carson City. In 1910, Superintendent Henry Yerington and President/owner Darius Ogden Mills, two stalwarts of the V & T, both died. The spirit of the old V & T was nearly gone. Mills' grandson, Ogden Livingston Mills, took over the Railroad and personally picked up the deficit the train was generating. But competing against improved trucks and highways proved impossible. By 1917 the majority of the ore cars had been scrapped and many of the other cars sold. The Railroad continued to decline as the automobile and truck industry expanded. In 1922, the United Comstock Mining Company built a large cyanide mill at American Flat that still stands today, and once again the V & T experienced a short rejuvenation. But the mines in Virginia City were depleted and in 1924 the straight passenger service to Virginia City was down graded to mixed trains after 55 years of continual service. In 1926 the American Flat Mill closed and left the V & T again running on the deep and generous pockets of its owner, Ogden Mills. In 1935 The Crown Point trestle in Gold Hill, the famous symbol of the Comstock, was torn down to mine the rich ore beneath. Soon after that, Ogden Mills, the generous owner and steadfast Railroad fan who had been supporting the V & T, also died. The V & T was placed in receivership. In 1937 there was a short spurt of money as Hollywood began buying old V & T rolling stock to use in the movies. But it wasn't enough. In 1938 the Board of Directors of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad announced its intention to close down the Railroad. They began selling off equipment as antiques. June 4 of 1938 marked the last freight train to Virginia City. By then the trips to Virginia City were excursion trains for Railroad buffs to the Comstock Lode. In 1941 the tracks to Virginia City were finally torn out. The V & T was barely surviving on the revenues it earned as a feeder line for the Central Pacific. In 1945 Engine #11, the "Reno" in all her brass trimmed glory, was sold to M-G-M in Hollywood. Now, with only three working engines, ten wheelers, #25, #26, and #27, the V & T was a diminutive reflection of its once glorious self. The Board of Directors thought to delay the inevitable by modernizing the Railroad. Inquiries were made into the purchase of a diesel engine and the costs of upgrading the track. The price of the 90 ton engine required to pull the Lakeview grade was $106,000. Estimates for track and roadbed repair ranged from $400,000 to $3.1 million. The task proved impossible. In January 1949 the Virginia and Truckee Railroad applied for permission to abandon its entire line. The petition was approved in February 1950. The official end of the V & T was to be May 31, 1950. On May 1, as though in protest to the death of the Railroad, Engine #26, while cooling in the roundhouse in Reno, mysteriously burned. It was a fitting end to the great short line. The last official trip of the V & T, held with great pomp and circumstance, ran May 11, 1950 and marked the end to a majestic and noble era of Railroad history. Now dead except in the movies, the V & T slept the sleep of the long forgotten. Then in 1976, Robert Gray - a businessman and railroad buff from California - seeing the potential in the rebirth of this historic monument to man's ingenuity - brought the V & T back to life. Old right-of-ways were purchased, steam trains were renovated and the V & T entered a new life with vigor and enthusiasm as an excursion train for history and railroad fans visiting Virginia City and the once mighty Comstock Lode. The 1990s find the Virginia & Truckee Railroad running from the "F" Street Station west of St. Mary's Church in Virginia City down to Gold Hill and the Gold Hill Depot, newly renovated by the Comstock Restoration Foundation. Possible plans for the future include extending the track past St. Mary's to the old freight depot to the north and down to Moundhouse and Carson City to the south. The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City boasts many finely restored original V&T engines and cars. Engine #22, The brass beauty "Inyo," , - work horse #25, - and #18, "Dayton," all reside in the beautiful facility in Nevada's Capital. Engine #12, the "Genoa" - engine #13, the "Empire" - and engine #21, the "J.W. Bowker," all fascinate thousands of visitors a year as main attractions at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento California. Probably the most famous V & T engine was Engine #11, the "Reno" - also known as the "Brass Betsy" or the "Brass Bound Baldwin Bantam." The "Reno" made its first movie in 1937 and is still doing so in Tucson, Arizona. Risen like the Phoenix Bird, born again from the ashes of the past, the V & T steams on, into a bright future, once again the Crookedest Short Line in the World. Contributed by Kyrila Scully Contributed by Kyrila Scully LIFE IN VIRGINIA CITY Virginia City liked to celebrate often. In addition to the many entertainments at the various opera houses and music halls, there were outdoor festivals that included horse races, parades, cake walks, barbecues and other "Frolics." Dog fighting also took place in the Oriental section of town. In Lousetown, the undesirable people (sheep herders and minorities) first started their own saloon and cafes, plus other services needed. Later they created a racetrack and held trap shootings and picnics. In 1868, John Millian murdered the popular "lady of the red-light district," Julia Bulette. Miss Bulette lived in a little house near the corner of D Street and Union Street. Her body was discovered by her maid, as she was lying in her bed with her throat cut and her jewelry, furs, clothing and other personal effects stolen. Even the earrings on her ears were ripped from her body. It was such a savage killing that the whole town was eager to catch the killer and hang him. Julia Bulette had done much charity work in Virginia City, including helping the town's firemen with cash contributions for equipment. She was buried in the Pioneer Cemetery with full honors deserving of her position as an honorary member of the fire brigade. The Groveland Hotel has a Julia Bulette Suite in her honor. Contributed by Kyrila Scully Check out this link for more information on Historic Landmarks and Events of Old Virginia City: www.hmdb.org/results.asp?Town=VirginiaCity&State=Nevada Contributed by Kyrila Scully PROMINENT VIRGINIA CITY LANDMARKS (1859-1870's) 1859 - Savage Mining Company; Hale and Norcross Mining Company (South D Street); Gould and Curry Mining Company Offices (Later Mackay Mansion) (129 South D Street); Chollar Mine; The Delta Saloon and Gambling Hall. These companies and businesses started out in tents, but as money and building supplies came to the camp, the town began to take shape. Engineers arrived to survey the layout of the town, with a grid of streets going from north to south and from east to west on the winding landscape. 1860 - Red Light District (North D Street and Union Street), Crib#1 belonged to Julia Bulette; St. Mary's in the Mountains (E Street at Washington Street - Rev. Hugh Gallagher ministered from 1860 to 1864, Rev. Patrick Manogue ministered from 1864 to an unknown year); Storey County Courthouse and Jail (North B Street at Union); Territorial Enterprise (South C Street between Union and Taylor-edited by Joe Goodman, Rollin Daggett, Mark Twain and Judge C.C. Goodwin with reporter "Dan deQuille."); The Union Brewery and Saloon; Lousetown (on the Geiger toll road, for sheep herders and minorities); Chinatown (located between G and L Streets and Sutton and Union Streets- full of laundries, herbal shops, opium dens, etc.); Bell Telegraph; and Silver Terrace Cemetery (North C Street at D Street intersection.) Ophir Grade (toll road). 1861 - Chollar Mansion (Mining offices, 565 South D Street); The Pioneer Church (later St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, South F Street, Rev. Franklin Rising). The first service was held at the Courthouse in 1861 and the church was completed in 1863. 1862 - Millionaires' Club - The Old Washoe Club (C Street, a private social club and bar for wealthy members and visitors); Nevada Bank of San Francisco (C Street near Taylor), The Sixty-Two Building (C Street - north half occupied by a saloon, south half occupied by cigar store and factory both owned by Moses Wertheimer); the Col, Morris Pinschower Building (C Street near Taylor - housed the Nevada Bank of S.F. and Joseph Frederick Hardware and a livery stable in the back.); Old Geiger Grade (toll road). 1863 - Piper's Opera House (12 North B Street at Union Street - saloon in the back along with hotel.); International Hotel (C Street and Union Street across from Piper's Opera House - six stories with 100 rooms and a "rising room" elevator; the Delta Saloon construction is completed. 1864 - C.J. Prescott House (12 Hickey Street); Bank of California; Bonner Shaft (Gould & Curry Mines); 1865 - Major fire erupts through Virginia City. Rebuilding begins. 1866 - Boston Saloon (C Street - William C. Brown, proprietor, free born, saloon for African Americans, burned 1875.) 1867 - Old Miner's Union Hall 1868 - Bonner (Banner) Brothers Clothing and Dry Goods (rebuilt 1876 after fire of '75) 1869 - Virginia and Truckee Railroad - "world's crookedest railroad"; Roos Brothers Sundries next to Comstock Cafe. 1870 - King-McBride Mansion (26-28 South Howard Street); beginning of the Marlette Lake Water System; 1871 - The 601's (Secret society of prominent citizens formed to eliminate lawlessness. The numbers were rumored to mean "6 feet under, 0 trial, 1 rope) mid-1870's - start of the C & C Mining Works - largest operation in Virginia City. 1875 - The Great Fire - 75% of town destroyed $12 million in property. Started at Kate Shea's Boarding House behind William Mooney's Livery Stable. See www.territorial-enterprise.com/ruins.htm 1875 - Rebuilding of Virginia City begins. Most completed within three years or less. New construction include: St. Mary Louise Hospital (named after Mrs. Mary Louise Mackay); and McCarthy House. 1876 - Fourth Ward School (South C Street across from Chollar Mansion - 4 story building could house 1,000 students, easing overcrowding in eleven other public schools); Piper House (Later renamed Piper-Beebe House - A Street near Union Street, Italianate Victorian house); and the Parish House for the rectory of St. Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church. Other businesses of Old Virginia City include the Knights of Pythias Hall (located next to Piper's Opera House); The Maguire Opera House; Sierra Valley Lumber; Virginia Planing Mill; and Comstock Chronicle (newspaper). Two of the many fire districts include Young America Fire Engine Company #2 and Washoe Engine Company #4. Compiled and contributed by Kyrila Scully